iPhone App – Japanese

Here are some of my favorite apps for iPhone.

<Kiss X Bijin Tokei> website

“Kiss” is the Osaka version of bijin-tokei ”the beautiful woman clock” (I wrote about it before in here ) ranked the first place of the entertainment section at the “Kiss FM Kobe” release first day supported in Kansai area around Kobe by many listers.  Like original bijin-tokei, this “Kiss” is one of the popular apps for iphone.

<Wa Kingyo>

“Wa” means “Japanese” “Japan style”, and “Kingyo” means goldfish.

Pretty goldfishes drawn on the Japanese style of painting swim elegantly.  You will be surprised by their cute movement.  This is similar to “Koi Pond” (I wrote about it here )  Enjoy relaxing time….  This app is created by a Japanese.

<Puff!>

… ummm, this is one of those crazy Japanese stuff.  In this app, you blow into your iphone or rub the screen with fingers, then the skirt of the pretty girl in the picture goes into an upskirt.   There are a few different girls on the screen to choose from and they all wear different clothes, such as yukata (Japanese casual summer kimono) and office lady type of clothes.  To me, I think it’s an obsession and I don’t like it, but this app is ranked in the top 10 and it seems many people around the world is enjoying it.  If you want to have this app on your iphone/touch, please make sure not to show to your girl!

Bijin Tokei

Bijin Tokei (English) means “beautiful clock” in Japanese.  Someone started this website where you can see beautiful Japanese girls holding a black board with time, and it changes every minute.  That means, one girl is holding “3:15: board, and next minute another girl is hodling “3:16″ board.

Some people (especially guys, of course!) are crazy about this and keep checking girls evey minute!

You can set this bijin tokei on the sidebar of your site, email page etc, (my husband actually set this on my gmail so I have to look at Japanese girls every minute :p)

Japanese applications for the iPhone/iPod Touch

I have updated photos from my Japan trip.  Please click here to see

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I gathered up few Japan-related iPhone/iPod Touch applications.

From the App Store:

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<Koi Pond>

it’s a virtual koi pond that resides on your iPhonepod

Imagine gazing into a pond of crystal clear water.  Picture bright, playful koi swimming through its shallow depths.  So close. . . . Can you touch them?

You run your fingers across the cool  surface of the pond.  Water ripples away from your touch.  The koi, disturbed, dart away.  Only to quickly forget and swim close to you once more. . . .

There are several settings you can control, such as the hue of the water, the number of fish and number of plants.

Koi Pond was released July 30th, and has found itself #1 at the App Store in a relatively short amount of time and with good reason

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<Mokugyo>

In this application, traditional musical instrument “Mokugyo”(wooden gong) of Japan can be performed looking at beautiful scenery in Japan.

The wooden gong was brought by Japan hundreds of years ago.
It is possible to see in the buddhist temple etc. in modern days.
Because the sound is very Oriental, and is mysterious, it is used by the Kabuki.

You will be able to relax by hearing the sound.
In addition, beautiful scenery in Japan is displayed one after another in this contents.
As a result, you will feel a higher relaxation feeling.
（This relaxation feeling is called “Nagomi” in Japan.)

Mokugyo was released October 20th 2008.

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<UNIQLOCK>

Japanese clothing brand UNIQLO have been using their UNIQLOCK – an online timer/screensaver thing - to promote their latest wares for the past couple of years.  Now you can download it to your iPhone/iPod Touch.

This thing seems very odd… but I guess it’s a fashion??

UNIQLOCK site

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<Furu Furu Pocky>

This is kind of a game you want to do when you want to pick one person out of several people.  It’s very simple, whoever pick the pink pocky is the winner.

eg: who is in charge of cooking dinner tonight, who will be a seeker on hide and seek etc…

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<Bonsai>

Bonsai is a Japanese art!  Those miniature trees are available on your iPhonepod.  There are numbers of Bonsai apps: Bonsai Blast, Bonsai wallpaper, your own Bonsai Tree, iBonsai etc…

I have iBonsai and it’s pretty  iBonsai uses a random-number algorithm to grow infinitely diverse bonsai trees before your eyes, which you can then rotate around in 3D and save as your wallpaper.

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Here is more!

Puppy Cam

This live video feed debuted Oct 8 on Ustream tv.

The six Shiba Inu pups, (3 boys and 3 girls) turned 11 weeks old on December 23rd. This is the first litter from their mom, Kika.

Girls:
- Autumn (Purple collar) – Is now with her new loving family.
- Ayumi (Formerly Yellow, now Lavender collar) – 6 lbs 6 oz (as of Dec 12th)
- Amaya (Red collar) – 6 lbs 8.5 oz (as of Dec 12th)

Boys:
- Aki (Green collar) – 8 lbs 0.5 oz (as of Dec 12th)
- Akoni (Black collar) – Is romping around the yard romping around with fallen leaves at his new home.
- Ando (Blue collar) – 7 lbs 3 oz (as of Dec 12th) – Is being a perfect angel at his new home.

Why don’t you get a peek on these cute puppies?? (>v<)

BTW, at night the owners turn off the lights and the camera so the dogs can sleep.

kiva – Loans That Change Lives

I’ve always wanted to do some volunteer work since I was little.  It started when my elementary school teacher showed a video to us in a class:  the video was about kids in Ethiopia.  The reality in other countries shocked me.  As a Japanese, I could eat anything at anytime since I was a baby, and I thought it was normal thing.  Apparently it wasn’t.  In other countries they have no food to eat and many people die everyday.  Kids can’t go to school to learn.  They don’t have any facility to do anything.  Is there anything I can do to such people?

I tried to find out what I could do, but there was no actual chance for me to go to the country and help them out.  School, work…  I didn’t even have that amount of money anyway.  Then, I found this website- kiva

Kiva is the world’s first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.  You can choose someone to lend to from this website, and then make a loan. Help a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community.  It is a loan, so of course you will get your money back after the period, or if you wish you can re-lend to someone else in need.

There are many interesting businesses, Grocery Store in Afghanistan, Beauty Salon in the Dominican Republic, Taxi driver in Lebanon etc…  I made a loan to a restaurant owner in Peru.  You can choose the amount to lend in increments of US$25.00 up to the total amount they are requesting.